The neutral third arbitrator who handles PED appeals, as well as grievances brought by players, serves at the pleasure of both Major League Baseball and the MLBPA. They can fire him for any reason. They can fire him for no reason. All that need happen is written notice from one side or the other.

It’s not a slam dunk, of course. The MLBPA is in a slightly different position than was Major League Baseball at the time of the Das position. Yes, they opposed Horowitz’s ruling, but they also — according to the ruling itself — agreed with the manner in which Horowitz approached parts of his decision. Specifically, Horowitz claims the MLBPA agreed that his discipline should come at the Commissioner’s discretion under the “just cause” provisions of he JDA and not under the 50/100/lifetime ban provisions. And, of course, they are now being sued by Alex Rodriguez, placing them in an odd tactical position between MLB and the player.

But, the MLBPA’s concessions aside, the arbitrator did just hammer a player with more or less unprecedented discipline. For political purposes alone, one has to think that the union may want to retaliate for that and/or for MLB’s firing of Braun.

If I’m a betting man, I say that the union fires Horowitz within a week or so.

The Oakland Athletics ballpark saga has dragged on for years and years and years. They’ve considered San Jose, Fremont and at least three locations in Oakland as potential new ballpark sites. The whole process has lasted almost as long as the Braves and Rangers played in their old parks before building new ones.

In the past several months the Athletics’ “stay in Oakland” plan has gained momentum. At one point the club thought it had an agreement to build a new place near Peralta/Laney College in downtown Oakland. There have been hiccups with that, so two other sites — Howard Terminal, favored by city officials — and the current Oakland Coliseum site have remained in play. There are pros and cons to each of these sites, as we have discussed in the past.

One consideration not mentioned before was mentioned by team president David Kaval yesterday: sea level rise due to climate change. From the San Francisco Chronicle:

Kaval mentioned twice that the Howard Terminal site would have to take into account sea-level rise and transportation concerns — and he said there have been conversations with the city and county and the Joint Powers Authority about developing the Coliseum site.

The Howard Terminal/Jack London Square area of Oakland has been identified as susceptible to dramatically increased flooding as a result of projected sea level rise due to climate change. On the other side of the bay both the San Francisco Giants and Golden State Warriors have had to consider sea level rise in their stadium/arena development plans. Now it’s the Athletics’ turn.

Fifteen of Major League Baseball’s 30 teams play in coastal areas and another five of them play near the Great Lakes. While some of our politicians don’t seem terribly concerned about it all, people and organizations who will have skin the game 10, 20 and 50 years from now, like the Oakland Athletics, are taking it into account.